Paying tribute to the 14 women victims of the Polytechnique massacre

Thirty-four years after 14 women were killed by a gunman at Polytechnique, students and staff of the Montreal university took time to remember and reflect on the tragic event.

Wednesday morning, they laid wreaths on Polytechnique’s commemorative plaque.

“Today we have to remember those 14 names. We have to remember what it represents,” said Polytechnique engineering student Béatrice Cyr.

“When it comes to this week, to this day, it’s very heavy to think about how these women could not have my chance to pursue my passion and to pursue engineering.”

The wreath laying is one of several events that pay tribute to the students whose lives were cut short on Dec. 6, 1989.

“It’s always a touching, emotional ceremony,” Polytechnique president Maud Cohen said. “It marked really the community of Polytechnique and society as a whole. And it’s really a moment where people take a pause and take time to reflect about what happened.”

The flags outside Polytechnique’s main building were flown at half-staff from dawn until dusk.

“There is a duty to remember those young ladies that lost their lives, remember what they were, why they were killed that day,” Cohen said. “Because they were women trying to be engineers.”

The president of the Polytechnique student association (AEP) says it’s important such tragic events never happen again.

“So that goes with the firearm control also,” Loïc Goyette told CityNews.

“Right now there’s C-21 in the Senate, so we ask the Senate to pass this law, but we also ask the government to make sure that all asset weapons and our ban in Canada.”

C-21 legislation, which the Senate is still considering, faced backlash when it was first presented as it was seen as an attempt to ban rifles commonly used by hunters. The bill’s progress through the House of Commons was sidelined for months amid the backlash.

The federal government ultimately pulled that definition and opted instead for a regulatory approach that would ensure guns are classified correctly before entering the Canadian market.

Goyette believes gun control is one way to look to the future. Another, he says, is increasing women in engineering.

Cyr fully agrees: “We have to have more role models. So women in engineering that shows how women are good in engineering. So we can look up to them and we could say, ‘I want to do that too.’”

To commemorate the 14 mass shooting victims, there is also a photo exhibit organized by the Polytechnique student association to allow Montrealers to learn more about each woman.

“We took pictures of women that are on the campus right now, and they embody women that lost their lives in 1989 here. There’s also a description of a biography of each woman that lost their lives,” Goyette said.

Because of the tragedy, Dec. 6 has become the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, also known as White Ribbon Day.